Mo Farah learns London lessons

The double Olympic champion crossed Tower Bridge in the leading group, which reached 20 kilometres in 58 minutes 28 seconds, before stepping off the course, while Alun Vaughan and Jessica Parry-Williams won the Welsh Championships

Mo Farah claimed he had learned the biggest lesson of his life after sticking to his controversial plan to run to halfway in the Virgin London Marathon.

The double Olympic champion crossed Tower Bridge in the leading group, which reached 20 kilometres in 58 minutes 28 seconds, before slowing and stepping off the course.

The 30-year-old was comfortably keeping pace with a strong field, which included the two fastest men in history.

He admitted afterwards getting the drink stops right had proved the biggest challenge, admitting he “made a mess” of them.

Farah told BBC1: “It’s not a problem with the pace. The pace looks good and obviously I’ve got to get past halfway.

“I think the biggest challenge for me is picking up the drinks and making sure you pick up the right drink and I made a mess of it – I think it was up at 10k.

“I had to stop and go back to get a drink. It takes a lot out of you, I want to be able to save energy.

“I’ve learned the biggest lesson of my life, really.”

Farah’s plan to run to halfway, as preparation for making his full debut on the streets of the capital next year, had met with anything but universal approval in the build-up to the race.

Critics accused him of putting money ahead of morals and he admitted the harsh words had hurt.

Farah, now 4/1 to win next year’s race, added: “If I would have come out here next year and made a mess of it, mentally it’s hard to deal with that. So it’s a good practice for me – waking up here in the morning, being round here, dealing with the media and everything.

“I’ve learned a lot, for sure. I’ll probably watch back this race and see how much of a mess I made of the drinks.”

Farah revealed on Twitter that comments he had overslept were “just a joke” and said he had been “one of the first athletes” on the bus.

He received a warm reception when introduced to the crowd at the start and it continued throughout his race.

“It was incredible. The amount of support, people coming up from everywhere, just cheering the whole way... unbelievable,” he added.

“I didn’t think there’d be as many people as today. They’re just cheering, coming up from houses, on the roof... the atmosphere’s incredible.”

Farah was back at the Tower Hotel in time to watch the finish to an exciting race as Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Kebede timed his race to perfection to chase down runaway leader Emmanuel Mutai, passing the Kenyan in the final mile.

“That must be really painful,” he said on Mutai before adding on Kebede’s run: “He looked really strong. He timed it really well and I thought ’wow’.”

World record holder Paula Radcliffe claimed Farah’s run to halfway would only have whetted his appetite to make a victorious return in a year’s time.

She said: “Part of him will have wanted to carry on and part of him will be fired up to come back here next year and win.”

Meanwhile, Wales international Alun Vaughan (Eryri Harriers) claimed the Welsh Marathon Championships title at the Virgin London Marathon.

Vaughan ran 2 hours 24 minutes 12 seconds on his debut over the 26.2 mile distance to secure his first Welsh Marathon Championships crown in near-perfect conditions in London.

The 34-year-old went into Sunday’s race in good form having won The Island Race half marathon in Anglesey last month and produced a superb display of consistent running to take first place.

He went through halfway in 1.11.28 and maintained a strong pace to break 2 hours 25 minutes.